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no. 4M. Jaktjabt 15,1859. j THE LEADER. ...
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secured its ascendancy in a rough, but b...
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* "Spldar," an Amorloan drink, compounde...
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author are esteemed as so many gems of t...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
The Church And The Masses
tatious mutual . counsel-taking . Considerable personal acquaintance with the irreligious masses enables us with some degree of confidence to ^ assert that Broad Church is the only division of the Church at which they do not sneer . If so , might not Evangelicals borrow the weapons which in-the other hands have proved successful ? . We do not wish clergymen to turn politicians and demagogues ; but they have a strong warrant and injunction to be " things to all men . " If in secular and social matters , the / really fulfilled Mr . liobertson ' s ideal of " standin" as a link of union between the two extremes of society , " and gave themselves , heart and soul , to ' softening down the asperities and soothing the jealousies which are too often rankling in the minds" the masses , many avenues , now coldly closed , would be thrown open for the entrance of Christian doctrine to tens of thousands of now estranged human hearts .
No. 4m. Jaktjabt 15,1859. J The Leader. ...
no . 4 M . Jaktjabt 15 , 1859 . j THE LEADER . 77
Secured Its Ascendancy In A Rough, But B...
secured its ascendancy in a rough , but busy country , where one auctioneering firm earns nearly two hundred thousand pounds sterling a year for selling cattle ; Mr . Kelly says "its advertisements , . contrary to the general rule , secured its circulation . " Here our energetic traveller is at fault , as we know from the secret history of our own leading journal . The elder Mr . Walter ? , the creator of the gigantic property , did not concern himself much in engaging
to my health , and Iwil | do the same to yours . " The house ( forgetting the disappointment ) , rose at her bidding in a shout of joyous applause , which reached an astounding climax as she returned with the postscriptive recommendation "to be sure and put the brandy in first . " .-
the highest literary talent for his paper , or in increasing the staff of his correspondents ; but he did a wiser , and a more far-sighted thing , he cultivated the advertising trade from its loftiest heights in commerce , to its lowest depths amongst domestic servants , sure that when the Times became the great advertising medium , its circulation would be fixed upon a firm and endurable basis . This must be the case with newspapers iu all communities , and we record the fact for the guidance of literary emigrants to British Columbia .
The account of the struggles which ended in the overthrow of the license tax on diggers , is important as showing the resistance to imposts on the part of a young colonial state , and the utter feebleness of a marionette governor appointed by the home Government . The political future of Australia will be like the present of America— -a burst into independence at the first pressure of authority . The persecution of the Chinese immigrants , and the imposition of a poll-tax upon them of ten which
shillings a-month , is the seed of a difficulty , if . . not looked to in time , may develop into another slavery question , more troublesome than the one in Yinerica . ' We are glad to find our author speaking ¦ out boldly against , this gross injustice to harmless and industrious foreigners ; and also showing how favourably the prudence of the Irish emigrant stands out against the improvidence of the boasting and self satisfied Saxon . AVc know even less of our neighbours and dependents across the channel than we do of the African or the Japanese .
As we have said before ; our author depends more upon the matter of his book than he does upon his style , for in addition to giving the coarseness of colonial dialogue without any pruning , he occasionally favours us with magnificent phrases , and talks about " gaunt hunger griping -the bowels of the people in its torturing grasp . " We close our notice by quoting an anecdote of theatrical life in Victoria : — Lola Montes , after a short preliminary engagement at the Theatre Royal Melbourne , was induced to visit Sandhurst , wheie a new and splendid theatre had just been finished , and which Lola filled in every corner night after night with enthusiastic audiences ,
imperturbable in their good humour and determination to be satisfied and indulgent under all circumstance ? . For when Lola did not feel in a mood to exhibit the "Spider Dance" ( a universal favourite , and always on the bill ) , or somo other advertised attraction , she would come out before tho drop-scene , like Charles Mathews in the Critic , to tell the audience some story and make an insinuating excuse , which was always received with uproarious satisfaction . I remember one evening—1 think it was on the occasion of her benefit—when every one gave way to the impression that the ' « Spider" would be given in all its variations , and eager lads and lasses , who crowded from the remotest gullies , were impatient for the termination
of the play , iu order to see the charming dansouso in this popular bullet . There was a positive hum of delightful expectation as tho curtain foil . Every countenance waft radiant with anxiety ; every eye was " skinned "' in watchfulness ; every oar w « s at full cock to catch any sound denoting the approach of tho longed-for moment . The ordinary interval was provokingly exceeded . She was only taking more pains in her get-up . Another trying pnuso followed , but the susponso was soothed nt a critical moment by her ringing laugh behind tho scones . Yet several mtnutos moro elapsed without the expected t inkle , when a gnMV digger arose in tho pit , and thus addressed tho drop-acono in good-humoured remonstrance ; " Come , Lola ; damn it , come on . ole gal , before
LIFE IN VICTORIA . Life in Victoria ( Australia ) . By William Kelly . Two Vols ; ' Chapman and Hall . Mr . Kelly is a gentleman who has travelled much , who has been across the Rocky Mountains to the great Salt Lake Valley , and great Sierra Nevada ; who has been through tiie diggings of California ; who has lived every variety of Australian life ; and vrlib is now on his way to British Columbia . Such a man must have much to tell , and he pours it Out in no niggardly manner . His book might have been a succession of newspaper correspondent ' s letters ; and it wants but : one thing—a little digestion of material ; The history of Victoria for the last five
years ( 1 S 53 to 1 S 5 S ) , social and political , from Governor Latrobe to Hothani , and from Hotliairi to Barkly , is contained in the two volumes ; but so inextricably mixed up with narratives of merely personal and accidental adventure , that those may separate it who can . The coarse , brutal life of the mining population of the colony , and their dependants , is given with no loving hand , and a little tendency , is exhibited to take the individual as . au unerring'type of the mass . Mr . Kelly ' s style is fast rather than humorous ; something like that of
Mr . G . F . Train , the American ' merchant , who has written on the same subject ; and he is , to some extent , safe , as long as he keeps to the surface of things . Many men can give a very readable account of the physical aspects of a colony , who are incapable of predicting its destiny , or of theorising upon its political economy . Mr . Wiugrove Cooke Was amusing , though prejudiced , during his China mission , until ho dabbled with the currency question , and discoursed upon the flow of silver to the East .
The extravagance of diggers and diggers wives in 1 S 53 ; the roads four feet deep in liquid mud ; the scarcity of lodgings , their character , and their prices ; the language of the rough settlers , their habits and their crimes ; the meeting with old acquaintances in very novel positions ; and many other things made familiar to the public by the agency of the press , are again described at some length . The following picture of a di g ger ' s wife at the washing-tub will give somo idea of the stute of things existing at that time : —
The days when the digger had a sick headache , and his lady for a Httlo relaxation condescended to " get up a few of her light things , " she always dressed for tho washing-tub . Tying her long hair at the back of her head in a hard knot , and transfixing it with a huge gold pin with a mother-o ' -poarl head , she would then shake off her loose morning robe , and , having diaongaged tho tody , get into the skirts of a satin Ureas , only slightly mottled with punch and mustard stains , but nevertheless protecte d from suds spatters by a thick bundimu ¦ cut in the form of a atomuclier apron , concluding her toilet by clasping on a pair of massive bracelets , throwing a heavy watch chain over her neck , and stuffing a carved timepiece into her virtuous bosom . Thus arrayed ,
I presume , to allow her neighbours that sho did not wash for filthy lucre , or contemptible economy , but only as a colonial substitute for crochet-work . Mr . Kelly gives us somo interesting particulars concerning the Australian press , from which it appears that the first , newspaper started was tho Melbourne Advertiser , publishoU at Port Phillip , in manuscript , on the first of January , 1838 . Mr . John Fttscoo l > tt \ vknor was tho , founder and proprietor of tins pen-and-ink journal , aud nine numbqrs wore circulated before aiyy typo could bo procured . Several othor papors followed before tho establishment ; of tho Argus , now tho loading organ , which pubhaUos a supplement equal in aroiv to tho London Ttyioa , Speaking of the way in which this journal
the moon goes down . " And on sho did come , iu front of tho curtain , with a hand on that part of her person where gripes are said to dwell , shaking her bond , too , in indication of pain ; but her face gave no token of sympathy . However , the furco burst prematurely by tho aforesaid digger ' s inquiring if " she took the water neat ? " an ironical sally that provoked a gcuoral roar , in which Lola most heartily joined ; and when silence was restored , sho tendered this bit of ndvieo to nor friondn . " Never , " said she , " oat any of your prcsorved Hondigo lobsters ; 1 tried some after tho play , and only that I had tho good luck of having a good ? Spider' * within reach I was a gono coon . ( Thunders of applause . ) 1 clinnot , therefore , give you tlie ' Spider * danco to-night —( spaam )—but go all of you and drink honoat spiders
* "Spldar," An Amorloan Drink, Compounde...
* " Spldar , " an Amorloan drink , compounded of brandy and lomonudo .
Author Are Esteemed As So Many Gems Of T...
author are esteemed as so many gems of the rarest quality . They are so many sports of the great poet's mind , and the ordinary student appreciates him better , when at play than when at work . It is the l . they sympathise and understand each other , without strain or trouble . They meet as fellows , not as teacher ana learner . Some , however , of these minor poems of the German , masterare difficult enough , for not seldom they paint a mood of the mind capricious enough in itself , and hard for the reader to : hit ; nay , which he cannot hit at all , unless he can place himself in the exact position of the poet at the time of writing . To the translator , also , they present another difficulty . Manv of them aim ' oiilv at the merit of execution ; ,
POEMS OF GOETHE . . Poems and Ballads of Goethe . Translated by W . Edmondstoune Aytouri , D . C . L ., and Theodore Martin . : William Black wood and Sons . The smaller poems of Goethe , like those of every great poet , bring the master nearer to the Scholar ' level , and for this reason are especially dear to the real lovers of the bard . Those who admire " The Paradise Lost" Milton , but yet think it open to criticism , will readily concede the perfect finish of his " Allegro" and his "II Penseroso , " his sonnets , " Lycidas , " and his hymn of "The Nativity , " and never question their beauty . Thus , with * many who could never penetrate the meaning of " Faust" the songs and ballads of its mighty
and these are so nicely finished , that if they are to be rendered into English , they must be perfect in the choice ; of word and phrase , in rhythmical movement , in rhyme , and whatsoever constitutes the charm of exquisite poetry iii the most exquisite verse . To accomplish this" , literal translation is not sufficient , is even sometimes most adverse ; and it will happen ' that the poem must be rewritten in the . new ' language ' , ' in the : same spirit , and hi diction of the same sweetness , though not in the same words . There are few translators , it will be readily
believed , equal to a task like this . This task , however , Professor Aytoun and Mr . Theodore Martin have undertaken , and perhaps two better men could not have been selected for its due performance . They had already been associated in a joint production , entitled " Bon Gaultier ' s Ballads , " which the world has received with favour , a verdict that promises well for their co-operation in the work before , us . They seem to have played readily and skilfully into one another ' s hands ; each in the first instance selecting the pieces suited to his genius , and then submitting to each other ' s revision . In some difficult cases , they have both wrought assiduously on the same poem and presented the joint result .. The principal poem in the collection must , we suppose , bo esteemed " The Bride of Corinth , " which bears and merits a high reputation in Germauy ; and on this the translators have bestowed their united exeriions . Their labour has evidently been one of love , and they , with some justice , have commended their original as something complete and absolutely perfect . \ Yc doubt , however , whether the English reader in general will participate in these raptures . The fact is , that English and German poems differ in one important particular . The former nclopt not onl y a certain diction , which is especiall y called poetic , but revel in the use or the abuse of metaphor in the expression of ideas , sometimes oven in this way elevating even common-place into apparent dignify . Our old pouts uniformly did this to excess ; and our morq fervent , modern writers , though somewhat more choice in their figures ,. arc lit tlo loss abundant . This faot , indeed , makes one of tho difficulties in the way of Shakspcaroan reading and acting in Germany ; the foreign elocutionist , requiring to distinguish botwocn t . lie apparent , passion implied in tho inotaphorieal p hases , and tho real passion intended by tho wholo speech ; and it requires practice to got over tho dillioulty . Now , tho German poqt is snaring of figurosi—ho doponds rather on the sentiment than on tho oppression , avoids metaphors rather than courts thorn . . His diction is studiously plain , somoMmos more simplo even than prose , less ornate , loss verbally oloquont ,. Ho doponds upon a i ' ow apt words , somo subtlo suggestion of thought or feeling , somo abrupt transition , or some mo ^ now
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 15, 1859, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15011859/page/13/
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